Maclin remembered as 'gentle giant'

Billy Austin has helped coach football at various levels in Brownsville for years.

He coached Tekarian Maclin when he played middle school football. When he talked about Maclin on Thursday afternoon, he referred to him as a "gentle giant."

Maclin, 16, died Wednesday evening at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Emergency personnel were called to the Haywood High field house Wednesday morning when Maclin complained of shortness of breath after football practice.

After he seemed OK and the ambulance left, he went home, where his mother called 911 about an hour later — before he was airlifted to the Memphis hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Austin said Maclin, a rising junior, was a good young man who even showed kindness through his aggressive play in football.

"He was capable of overpowering and brutalizing the majority of players he faced due to his sheer size and presence," Austin said. "But his kind demeanor and true politeness probably saved the majority of opponents from lying on their back looking up at the sky."

Austin said Maclin was the kind of young man people would enjoy spending time with.

"A great kid that always said, 'yes and no sir' even when given a tongue lashing during practice," Austin said. "He always managed to smile; a kid that it was an honor to be able to coach."

TSSAA Assistant Executive Director Matthew Gillespie confirmed the state high school athletics association is aware of what happened and is awaiting a report from the administration at Haywood High School.

TSSAA regulations stipulate practice for any sport cannot happen outside if the heat index exceeds 104 degrees. Efforts to contact Haywood head coach Steve Hookfin or the Haywood school system administration weren't successful on Thursday for details on when or where Wednesday's football practice was held.

Hookfin said Wednesday night Maclin's death was not related to the heat or football.

The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory for the entire day until 8 p.m. Wednesday, and that was upgraded to an excessive heat advisory at 3:26 in the afternoon.

The National Weather Service defines a heat advisory as when the heat index is predicted to be between 103 and 109 degrees. It becomes an excessive heat advisory at 109-113 degrees. Every county between the Mississippi River and Madison County in West Tennessee and North Mississippi were part of the excessive heat advisory.

A National Weather Service official confirmed that no deaths in West Tennessee and the Mid-South in recent days have been attributed to the heat.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751